Red Wine Cheddar Salad with Spinach and Pear

Recipe Creator: Chef John

This Red Wine Cheddar Salad with Spinach and Pear is anything but boring! The flavours in this delicious and simple salad come together perfectly. It's sweet, tangy, crunchy, and only takes 5 minutes to assemble. Serve it at a dinner gathering and your guests will be impressed.

Ingredients

  • 1 handful of spinach (approximately 3 oz.)
  • 1.5 oz. dried cranberries
  • 1.5 oz. red onion, thinly sliced in halves
  • 1 small ripe Anjou or Bartlett pear, thinly sliced
  • 1 handful of walnut halves (about 10)
  • 3 oz. Bothwell Red Wine Old Cheddar, crumbled
  • Garnish: microgreens, coarse salt, pepper
  • Optional: Gooseberries

Apple Cider Dijon Vinaigrette

  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 6 tbsp. honey
  • 6 tbsp. Dijon mustard
  • 4-6 tbsp. apple cider vinegar, or to taste
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 pinch of salt

Directions

  1. Place spinach in a mixing bowl with red onions. Add dressing to taste (approximately .5 fl. oz.) and mix with your hand. Once you have the spinach coated make a nest in the salad bowl.
  2. Slice pear in 1/4" slices. Fan out the pear on the spinach.
  3. Sprinkle with walnuts and dried cranberries.
  4. Place crumbled Red Wine Old Cheddar on the salad. You can put the cheese in the freezer for a couple of hours ahead of time. It makes crumbling the cheese much easier.
  5. Garnish with microgreens, salt, pepper, and a drizzle of dressing.

Apple Cider Dijon Vinaigrette

  1. Whisk all ingredients in a bowl and add olive oil slowly to emulsify. Store in a mason jar in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
Notes